EXTRA READING An Adventure at Brownville

BEFORE YOU READ

1 ® Read about the author of Ow/ Creek Bridge and OtJ)er Storjes. What
do you think his short story An Adyentt/re at Brow»vi//e might be about?

Ambrose Gwinnett Bierce was an American journalist and writer. When

the American Civil War began in 1861, he became an officer in the Union
Army. His stories about the American Civil War made him famous. Bierce
admired the American writer Edgar Allan Poe. He liked Poe's stories about
ghosts, horror, and mystery. Many of Bierce's own stories are about strange
mysteries and ghosts.

WHILE YOU READ

2 ® Read the excerpt from An Adventure at Brovmvi//e and check your answer to
Exercise 1.

There was only one school in Brownville, and I was
the only teacher. Brownville was a small town and
had few young people, but many visitors stayed
there in the summer.
Brownville has some of the finest views in
the state of California. The town lies between hills
that are covered in beautiful, colorful trees. In the
hills, the air is fresh and clear. Many visitors came
to Brownville to improve their health. They walked
on the hills and breathed the good, clean air.
I saw many of these visitors because I lived
in a boarding house. In summer, the house was
full of guests and I talked to most of them. I ate
breakfast and supper in the boarding house and
spent the rest of the day at the school.
The school was not far away. It was on the
other side of a hill. The distance by road was about
one and a half miles, but I knew a shorter way. I
could walk over the top of the hill in fifteen minutes.
There was a path that ran through the forest 9n the
hill.
I came back along this forest path late one
evening. It was the last day of the school year.
Tomorrow, the students' vacation would begin. I had
stayed late at the school because I had been writing
reports.
Suddenly I heard voices. One was a woman's
voice, and she sounded angry. The second voice
belonged to a man. It was a deep and musical voice
-the voice of a singer. I could not see who was
speaking, but I could hear the words clearly.
"Dor}'t threaten me!" the man said. "You can
do nothing. Don't try to change anything, or you will
both suffer."
"What do you mean?" said the woman's voice
angrily. It was a cultivated voice -she spoke clearly
and well. ``Do you mean that you'll murder us?"
lt was almost dark now, but suddenly I
saw the two people among the trees. They were
standing on the path. The man was tall and slim.
He seemed to be wearing black clothes. But there
were too many shadows and I could not see clearly.
The woman wore a pale gray dress. They did not
See me.
As I watched, the woman knelt on the ground
in front of the man. She held her hands together
in front of her face. Was she begging for the man's
help? Or was she praying that he would not hurt
her? I did not like this scene. There was trouble
here. I stepped behind a large tree.
When I looked at the path again, the man and
woman had disappeared. I walked on until I saw
the light of the lamps shining from the windows of
the boarding house. The scene of the man and the
woman in the forest stayed in my mind. It had made
me feel unhappy and uncomfortable.

I saw some new guests at breakfast the next
morning. A young woman sat at a table opposite
mine, but she was not the woman who I had seen
last night.
Then a younger lady entered the dining room.
The two young women looked very similar. They were
both extremely pretty.
When the second young lady spoke, I
recognized her voice immediately. I had heard it in
the forest. The two ladies were sisters. I guessed
that they were about 18 and 20 years old. I finished
my coffee and left the dining room quickly.
I did not see the tall, slim man, but I heard
him. He was in the garden of the boarding house.
As I had guessed, he was a singer. He was
practicing his singing. He was singing "La donna 6
mobile" -a song from Verdi's opera, I?/.go/etto.
The singer had a very good, strong voice.
Maybe it was too good. Why was he in a simple
boarding house in Brownville and singing in this
way? I walked away quickly.

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